Laminated dual surfaced sign and sign making material



Oct. 8, 1963 B. D. MORGAN I 3,106,032

LAMINATED DUAL SURFACED SIGN AND SIGN MAKING MATERIAL Filed Aug. 18, 1961 FIG.|

/ pie/N750 0a m ,2 apname Smear 6 M/leleae Plea/r60 SEE NEW PRODUCT HERE THURSDAY FIG.2

INVENTOR. BURTON D. MORGAN United States Patent l ice 3,106,032 LAMHNATED DUAL SURFACED SIGN AND SEGN MAKING MATERIAL Burton l). Morgan, Hudson, @hio, assignor to Morgan Adhesives Company, Stow, Ohio, a corporation of Ghio Filed Aug. 18, 1951, Ser. No. 132,455 1 (llaim. (1. 40-135) This invention relates to a novel and improved dual surfaced sign, and to a novel laminated sign making material.

In promotional activities for new products and the like, it frequently is very desirable to put out some preliminary announcement relating to the new product or material, and with then a second or different sign being displayed on the actual release date for the new product. Hence, in the past, it normally has been necessary to have a skilled sign hanger, or the like to come twice to place these two different signs at the proper times. Inasmuch as many different signs may be desired to be released all on the same day, it frequently is ver diflicult if not impossible to have such signs on display at a wide variety of places and locations at a specified time. In other words, it has been difficult, or impossible, to get simultaneous releases by prepositioned signs when advertising new products.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a laminated dual surfaced sign characterized by its ability to present two different messages at different times, which result is obtained when one portion of the sign bearing an initial message thereon has been removed to reveal a second portion of the sign and a second message at a later date.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved dual surfaced sign wherein the original sign can be or is positioned by the usual people in the trade, but where a second surface of the sign can be revealed by an unskilled person performing a relatively simple peeling off operation on the positioned sign.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate the simultaneous release or display of signs relating to new products or the like which are to be advertised to the public at a specified date, usually in the future, and where one portion of the sign can readily be removed from another portion of the sign, which portion itself can comprise an attractive, fixedly positioned sign.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved laminate of an outer tear-resistant opaque sheet adapted to receive conventional printed data thereon and a transparent backing sheet where the backing sheet is secured by a layer of adhesive carried by the outer sheet to such outer sheet so that data that is mirror printed on the back of the transparent sheet can be revealed only when and if the outer opaque sheet has previously been pulled from the laminate.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be made more apparent as the specification proceeds. Attention now is particularly directed to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged vertical section through a novel dual surfaced sign embodying the principles of the invention and made from the laminate of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is an elevation of a novel dual surfaced sign of the invention, in smaller scale, and with a portion of the outer opaque sheet of the sign being broken away.

When referring to corresponding members shown in the drawings and referred to in the specification, corresponding numerals are used to facilitate comparison therebetween.

The present invention, generally speaking, relates to a laminate for use in making dual surfaced signs or the 3,l5,d32 iiatented Oct. 8., 1963 like and where the laminate includes an opaque outer sheet, a transparent backing sheet, and a layer of lowtack pressure-sensitive adhesive carried by the outer sheet and securing the sheets together whereby data can be printed on the exposed surface of the outer sheet and other data can be mirror printed on the back of the backing sheet to be visible therethrough only after removal of the outer sheet so that when a sign made up from the laminate is positioned in a satisfactory place, the sign can have two messages displayed thereby at different times through data carried on the outer and the backing sheets.

Reference now is particularly directed to the details of the structure shown in the drawings. Thus, a dual surfaced sign of the invention is indicated as a whole by the numeral 1. This sign 1 includes an outer opaque sheet .2 that has conventional printed data 3 appearing on its outer or exposed surface. This opaque sheet 2. is tear-resistant and relatively thick and may be made from any suitable materials such as relatively tough, strong paper, or it may be made from plastic films or sheets that are adapted to receive printed data thereon.

It is an important feature of the invention that a transparent, relatively thin backing film 4 is secured to the opaque sheet '2 by use of a low tack, pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 5. For a reason to be pointed out hereinafter in more detail, the adhesive layer 5 is initially secured to and carried by the inner surface of the opaque sheet 2 so as to be removable therewith. The transparent film 4 may be made from any conventional material such as a transparent vinyl film, an acetate film, or the film may be made from Mylar, or, for example, thin transparent paper, as desired.

In order to provide the second printed message in the dual surfaced sign 1, suitable printed data indicated at 6 can be applied by a process known as mirror printing to the exposed, or back surface of this transparent film 4. Thus, the data printed thereon, when read through the transparent film 4, will be legible to deliver its message.

In use, the dual surfaced sign can be positioned in any suitable manner by the usual man skilled in the art. For example, an adhesive coating may be applied to the back surface of the transparent film 4, and the sign could be afiixed to a window, billboard, or other desired location.

As indicated in FIG. 2, this sign may well have on the opaque sheet 2 some advance announcement, such as See new product here Thursday and direct attention to the fact that some announcement is to be made at some future date. When the predetermined date has arrived, any unskilled person can grasp the edge of the opaque sheet 2 and strip it from the transparent film 4, as positioned for display. The adhesive layer 5 will pull off with the opaque sheet 2 to expose the transparent film 4- so as to present the printed data 6 thereon clearly and to avoid collecting dust, insects or the like on the surface of the transparent film 4.

It will be realized by use of a sign of the invention that in effect two signs are obtained and positioned for the price of one. The heavier opaque sheet 2 will be readily removable from the remainder of the laminate, and a little tab could be provided on the edge thereof, as desired, to facilitate the separation of the sheet 2 and the low-tack adhesive layer 5 from the transparent film as pasted or otherwise secured to a carrier frame or member. The proprietor of a business establishment hence can easily present the desired announcement on a specific date, and this identical announcement can be made at many different locations simultaneously.-

In View of the above, it is believed that a novel and improved dual surfaced sign has been provided. This sign can be sold as a laminate to a printer or other person completing the sign after the novel and improved laminate of the invention has been prepared. Such laminate would comprise the structure formed by adhesively securing the transparent film 4 to the back surface of the opaque sheet 2. The use of the low-tack adhesive layer carried by the opaque sheet 2 would be a feature of such laminate that thereafter could be processed by having the printed data 3' printed onto the surface of the opaque sheet 4 and have the other desired data mirror printed on the back of the transparent film of the laminate.

Any suitable number of colors or. other printing styles as desired can be used in forming the novel laminate.

Hence it is believed that the objects of the invention have been achieved and a novel and improved sign and sign-making laminate have been provided by the invention.

While one complete embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein, it will be appreciated that modification of this particular embodiment of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A dual surface sign comprising an outer tear-resistant opaque sheet having printed data on its outer surface,

a layer of low-tack pressure-sensitive adhesive secured to said opaque sheet on its back surface, and

a transparent film secured to said opaque sheet by said adhesive,

said film having mirror printed data appearing on its back whereby the sign can be positioned and first used with said opaque sheet thereon and thereafter be used to reveal the mirror printed data readable from the outer surface of the sign after said opaque sheet has been removed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

